ASUS ZenWatch

This is definitely a classy smartwatch. Like some of the others, its design says “premium”, with a look that appears overall thinner than most of the other Android Wear offerings. The internal specifications are fairly in-line with the Gear Live and the original G Watch, but that doesn’t keep the ZenWatch from being another great option.

The ASUS ZenWatch packs a 1.63-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 320×320, a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor, 512 MB RAM, 4 GB internal storage, and a 369 mAh battery. The watch strap can easily be swapped — as it’s a standard 22mm in size — and ASUS has some of the nicer watch faces on board by default.

Google has shared official details about Android Wear 1.5 a couple weeks ago, and since it has rolled out to the majority of Android Wear watches. Mainly, this is a maintenance and stability update that focuses on improving system health. Now, like Motorola and Samsung did earlier this month, Asus has released a changelog of specific fixes for the ZenWatch 2.

Android Wear smartwatches may not be as much of a “hot gift” this year as the Apple Watch is, but if you have friends without an iPhone, going with an Android-based smartwatch is pretty much your only option if you want to gift them a wearable. There are a lot of options to pick from across many different price points, but we’re here to help you pick out the perfect combo of fashion and tech for your loved one… expand full story

The same day as its ZenWatch 2 became available via the Google Store, Asus has this evening launched a new app that allows users to design custom watchfaces. The app, cleverly called the ZenWatch FaceDesigner, is compatible with both the ZenWatch and ZenWatch 2.

ZenWatch FaceDesigner allows users to easily design their own watchfaces. Users can choose from a variety of pre-designed backgrounds and add layers of texts, clocks, and widgets to the background. Widgets include things like weather info, battery life, and app shortcuts. As far as backgrounds go, you can also add your own image to the app and design a watchface based on it.

ZenWatch FaceDesigner is an ASUS wearable application that’s fully-compatible with Android Wear. It lets you create exclusive watch faces for your ZenWatch in three easy steps:

Aside from its simplicity, the ZenWatch FaceDesigner also offers a variety of options for you to choose from such as background image and color, tick, icon, text color, date info, weather info, battery info, missed call info, time zone info, tep count, burned calories, plus more. You can even pick your own favorite image as your watch’s background or icon for a more personalized touch.

The new ZenWatch FaceDesigner app is available now on the Play Store for free and is compatible with the ZenWatch and ZenWatch 2.

Asus’ ZenWatch 2 is easily one of this year’s best value Android Wear smartwatches. With prices starting at just $149, it’s about half the price of the other Android wearables launched in 2015. Now, it’s available to order from the Google Store.

As is customary these days with new smartwatches, there are two sizes of ZenWatch 2. The 45mm and 49mm versions sport slightly different specs, with the smaller model featuring a 280 x 280 resolution screen, 300mAh battery and support for standard 18mm watch bands. The larger watch supports 22mm bands, has a 400mAh battery and a 320 x 320 display. Both have 4GB storage, 512MB RAM and the same Qualcomm processor, IP67 water resistance, Bluetooth 4.1 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g.

If you order the 49mm model from Google, the predicted shipment timeframe is 1-2 business days, while the 45mm model just says ‘coming soon’. If you want to save a little cash, NewEgg is offering pre-orders for the ZenWatch 2 for $129 and $149 for the rubber and leather-strapped models respectively.